Supreme Court closes criminal case against Italian Marines; Italy will now try them

The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed a criminal case initiated against two Italian marines who killed two fishermen off the Kerala coast, setting the stage for the Italian government to try them in their own country as per an international tribunal award.

The 2012 incident sparked off a diplomatic row between the two countries with both claiming jurisdiction to try the two marines posted aboard oil tanker Enrica Lexie after they shot dead fishermen Valentine Jelestine, 45, and Ajesh Binki, 22, under the presumption that they were pirates. India claimed that the incident had occurred in its territorial waters while Italy argued that the ship was flying the Italian flag.

An international tribunal later ruled that Italy would try the marines and also pay ₹10 crore compensation to the victims affected in the incident. The Indian government accepted this ruling and urged the top court to close the criminal case against the marines. The top court had refused to close the case without first receiving the compensation amount. This had delayed the process.